This week's Question Time hasn't even aired and people are pointing out a massive problem
Emily Apple | thecanary.co | 2019-05-09
On 9 May, the BBC will broadcast its latest edition of Question Time. But people are pointing out a massive problem with the episode before it's even aired. | The panel will include Nigel Farage and Anna Soubry. They are representatives of two parties — the Brexit Party and Change UK — that have no elected MPs, councillors, or MEPs. While both parties can claim representatives in the European and UK parliaments, neither has faced a public vote. | Meanwhile, the Green Party and the Liberal…
thecanary.co/trending/2019/05/09/this-weeks-question-time-hasnt-even-aired-and-people-are-pointing-out-a-massive-problem/

Watch: Interview With Democratic Congresswoman and 2020 Presidential Candidate Tulsi Gabbard
Glenn Greenwald | theintercept.com | 2019-05-09
Ever since Tulsi Gabbard was first elected to Congress in 2012, she has been assertively independent, heterodox, unpredictable, and polarizing. Viewed at first as a loyal Democrat and guaranteed future star by party leaders — due to her status as an Iraq War veteran, a telegenic and dynamic young woman, and the first Hindu and Samoan-American elected to Congress — she has instead become a thorn in the side, and frequent critic, of those same leaders. | Gabbard's transformation from cherished party asset to party critic and outcast was rapid, and was due almost entirely to her insistence on following h…theintercept.com/2019/05/09/watch-interv…

Video: Syrian Army Liberates Another Town in Northwestern Hama
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2019-05-09
By May 8, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies had repelled a series of counter-attacks by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham-led forces keeping control of all the positions captured in northwestern Hama. Especially intense clashes took place near Tell Ottman …globalresearch.ca/syrian-army-liberates-…

NATO and the Culture of War: Ireland's History of Resistance
Caoimhghin àì Croidheáin | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-05-09
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of NATO with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949. Established as a peacetime alliance between the United States and Europe to prevent expansion of the Soviet Union, NATO has grown in size and and changed from a defensive force to an …dissidentvoice.org/2019/05/nato-and-the-…

Colombia: FARC Party Demands Release of Jesus Santrichplenglish.com | 2019-05-09
Bogota, May 9 (Prensa Latina) Thirteen months after the incarceration on Thursday of the FARC leader Jesus Santrich, congress people from that political party demanded his release as a gesture of hope for peace in Colombia.www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id…

President Trump's Insatiable Appetite for Regime Change
Jesse Jackson | commondreams.org | 2019-05-09
White House National Security Advisor John Bolton talks to reporters about the security and political turmoil in Venezuela and called for a peaceful transition to a government controlled by acting President Juan Guaido, outside of the White House West Wing on Tuesday, April 30, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/TNS) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files……commondreams.org/views/2019/05/09/presid…

CODEPINK Monthly Golden Gate Bridge WALK for PEACE
Toby Blome | indybay.org | 2019-05-09
BE GREEN AND CARPOOL | See http: //tripplanner.transit.511.org for public transit options. | Golden Gate Transit Buses 10, 70, 80 | and SF Muni Bus 28 stop at the bridge (SF side). | Parking available on all 4 "corners", just remember to take the last exit on hwy 101 as you approach the bridge, or the first exit after you leave the bridge. | 11: 45 am: Gather at the SF or Marin end of the eastern walkway of the Golden Gate Bridge. | Noon: Walk on the eastern walkway from the north or south ends to converge in the middle for World Peace. Then march to the SF side for rally.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/05/08/1882331…

Coup supporters in Washington try to smear peace group with misleading video
Peter Bolton | thecanary.co | 2019-05-09
As The Canary previously reported, the Venezuelan embassy in Washington is currently under siege by coup supporters. Peace activists of the Embassy Protection Collective have been living inside since the last remaining diplomatic staff left last month. But now, coup backers have sought to smear these activists with…
thecanary.co/us/us-analysis/2019/05/09/coup-supporters-in-washington-try-to-smear-peace-group-with-misleading-video/

Trump and Kushner Middle East Peace Deal Is a Trojan Horse for Further Occupation
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-05-09
Phyllis Bennis discusses the recent Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip and the real nature of Kushner's supposed "deal of the century"therealnews.com/stories/trump-and-kushne…

Biden Likes Republicans So Much Because He's So Much Like Them
Norman Solomon | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-09
Recent criticism of Joe Biden for praising Dick Cheney as "a decent man" and Mike Pence as "a decent guy" merely scratches the surface of what's wrong with the current frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination. His compulsion to vouch for the decency of Republican leaders — while calling Donald Trump an "aberration" — is…counterpunch.org/2019/05/09/biden-likes-…

Joe Biden likes Republicans so much because he's so much like them
Norman Solomon | nationofchange.org | 2019-05-09
Recent criticism of Joe Biden for praising Dick Cheney as " a decent man" and Mike Pence as " a decent guy" | merely scratches the surface of what's wrong with the current | frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination. His compulsion | to vouch for the decency of Republican leaders — while calling Donald | Trump an "aberration" — is consistent with Biden's political record. It | sheds light on why he's proba…nationofchange.org/2019/05/09/joe-biden-…

Joe Biden Doesn't Deserve Your Nostalgia
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-05-09
If there is one thing we can take away from the first two weeks of Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign, it's that the former vice president is feeling nostalgic. Uncle Joe is longing for the good old days, before President Trump happened and before the Republican Party went completely off the rails. The days when Democrats and Republicans could be friends, when compromise wasn't a dirty word, and when civility prevailed. The days when the center held strong, and pragmatic statesmen like him and his friend Dick Cheney could cut deals behind closed doors.truthdig.com/articles/joe-biden-doesnt-d…

Sanders, AOC Plan Radical Offensive on Wall Street
teleSUR-ne-EF | telesurenglish.net | 2019-05-09
United States Senator Bernie Sanders and House member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have proposed legislation that would cap interest rates on credit cards and other consumer loans at 15 percent. | RELATED: | AOC Says She Follows Democratic Leadership on Issue of US Intervention in Venezuela | The proposal, introduced Thursday, also calls for…telesurenglish.net/news/Bernie-Sanders-O…

Obama's Frustration with Clinton Campaign Should be a Warning to Dems
Riaz Malik | mintpressnews.com | 2019-05-09
Will Democrats stop wasting their time rehashing conspiracy theories and actually start opposing Trump on Venezuela? On mass surveillance? On tax breaks to the wealthy? On defense spending?mintpressnews.com/obamas-frustration-wit…

AG Barr hit with new subpoena as Dems struggle to extract unredacted Mueller reportrt.com | 2019-05-09
Attorney General William Barr is facing a second House subpoena, this one from intelligence committee chair Adam Schiff, as Democrats double down on their quest for the unredacted Mueller report and the evidence behind it. | …rt.com/usa/458834-barr-subpoena-contempt…

'March and Variations': Stefan Wolpe's revolutionary music for two pianos
Eric A. Gordon | peoplesworld.org | 2019-05-09
"Workers don't carry a piano around with them," said the great German Communist composer Hanns Eisler, who wrote many of the most enduring working-class songs of the 1930s, many of them set to texts by his close collaborator Bertolt Brecht. (After WWII, he also wrote the national anthem for the new German Democratic Republic.) His …peoplesworld.org/article/march-and-varia…

Bernie Sanders Campaign Staff Ratify Pro-Workers Union Contracttelesurenglish.net | 2019-05-09
Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign workers have ratified a union contract with management, one of the first of such contracts at this political level. | RELATED: | Liberals vs Progressives? Top 8 Democrats Running in 2020 US Elections | The agreement was announced Wednesday by Bernie's campaign leaders and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local…telesurenglish.net/news/Bernie-Sanders-C…

Trump ratchets up anti-immigrant campaign
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2019-05-09
While much of the media continues to focus on the Mueller report and the squabbles between the White House and the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, US President Donald Trump's real crimes are scarcely addressed or are ignored altogether. | This column will take up one of these crimes, Trump's intensification of his racist war on immigrants. He is not alone on this — the ultra-right throughout Europe and elsewhere have similar anti-immigrant policies. | In recent weeks Trump has appointed new officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).greenleft.org.au/content/trump-ratchets-anti-immigrant-campaign

The Melting of the Fortress of Solitude
Manuel García, Jr. | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-09
The American dream is the eternal one: wealth by luck, power by wealth, and freedom from responsibility by power. The American nightmare is our most democratized experience: impoverishment by design, powerlessness by impoverishment, and the shackling of the powerless to responsibility for the crimes of wealth.We live in a mediocracy, the mark of failure is success. To be fully human is to fail at being a successfully commodified robot.counterpunch.org/2019/05/09/the-melting-…

Jacksonville celebrates May Day
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-05-09
Jacksonville, FL — About 35 people gathered on May 1 to celebrate International Workers' Day in Jacksonville. The rally was held in front of the Duval County Courthouse. Members of several local trade unions were present, including Letter Carriers, Teamsters, SEIU, Teachers, and IATSE. Other local activist groups included the Community Action Committee, Students for a Democratic Society, Progressive Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Network, the Northside Coalition, and the local Democratic Black Caucus. | The rally was united under the theme of building alliances between different groups and organizations. A…fightbacknews.org/2019/5/8/jacksonville-…

Seven theses on the Capitalist Democratic State
Eds. | mronline.org | 2019-05-09
What is the capitalist democratic state and how should it be confronted? This question has bedevilled the left for generations. On the one hand, a social democratic conception of the state as a neutral institution that needs to be occupied and captured by bureaucrats with the right ideas has lead to experiments in socialist governance […] | Source…mronline.org/2019/05/09/seven-theses-on-…

House Panel Votes to Hold AG Barr in Contempt
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-05-09
WASHINGTON — The Latest on Congress and special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report (all times local): | 10: 50 p.m., May 8, 2019 | The House Judiciary Committee has voted to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress. | The vote Wednesday capped a day of ever-deepening dispute between congressional Democrats and President Donald Trump, who invoked executive privilege to block lawmakers from the full report on Robert Mueller's probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election. | Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York declared the action by Trump's Justice Department a clear new sig…truthdig.com/articles/house-panel-votes-…

House Panel Holds Barr in Contempt as Trump Claims Executive Privilege
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-05-09
The House Judiciary Committee has voted to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress over his refusal to turn over the unredacted Mueller report and the underlying evidence to lawmakers. Meanwhile, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for the unredacted report. This all came after the White House invoked executive privilege to prevent the full report's release to Congress and to bar former White House counsel Don McGahn from providing documents to Congress related to the Mueller probe. We speak with Ian Millhiser, a columnist for Thi…truthout.org/video/house-panel-holds-bar…

A Constitutional Crisis? House Panel Holds AG Barr in Contempt as Trump Claims Executive Privilege
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2019-05-09
The House Judiciary Committee has voted to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress over his refusal to turn over the unredacted Mueller report and the underlying evidence to lawmakers. Meanwhile, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for the unredacted report. This all came after the White House invoked executive privilege to prevent the full report's release to Congress and to bar former White House counsel Don McGahn from providing documents to Congress related to the Mueller probe. We speak with Ian Millhiser, a columnist for ThinkP…www.democracynow.org/2019/5/9/a_constitu…

Trump flouts the law, plunges country into constitutional crisis
John Wojcik | peoplesworld.org | 2019-05-09
WASHINGTON–President Trump, by trashing and ignoring laws that require him to provide information sought by the Congress of the United States, has pushed the country into the full-fledged constitutional crisis with the worst political scandal ever to rock the nation. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler declared on national cable television last night that a …peoplesworld.org/article/trump-flouts-th…

Boondoggle, Inc.: Making Sense of the $1.25 Trillion National Security State Budget
William Hartung — Mandy Smithburger | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-09
In its latest budget request, the Trump administration is asking for a near-record $750 billion for the Pentagon and related defense activities, an astonishing figure by any measure. If passed by Congress, it will, in fact, be one of the largest military budgets in American history, topping peak levels reached during the Korean and Vietnam…counterpunch.org/2019/05/09/boondoggle-i…

House committee votes contempt charge against Trump's attorney general William Barrwsws.org | 2019-05-09
The conflict between Congress and the White House represents the breakdown of the institutional framework through which American capitalist politics has operated for more than two centuries.www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/05/09/barr…

Senate Intel committee subpoenas Don Jr over Trump Tower testimony — reportrt.com | 2019-05-08
The Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee has subpoenaed Donald Trump Jr. over his claim that he had only superficial knowledge about his father's intention to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, multiple outlets have reported. | …rt.com/usa/458829-trump-jr-subpoena-cong…

Corporate Media Target Gabbard for Her Anti-Interventionism–a Word They Can Barely Pronounce
Owen Walsh | fair.org | 2019-05-08
Tulsi Gabbard being challenged on The View ( 2/20/19) by Ana Navarro: "Why are you so against intervention in Venezuela?" | Presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard has not garnered much press coverage since announcing her bid on February 2; she's the 13th-most-mentioned Democratic candidate on TV news, according to FAIR's most recent count ( 4/14/19). | But when corporate media do talk about the Hawaii congressmember, they tend to reveal more about themselves than about her. | A veteran…fair.org/home/corporate-media-target-gab…

Wednesday's Daily Brief: updates from the Near East and Libya, Ebola in DR Congo, World War remembrance
United Nations | un.org | 2019-05-08
On Wednesday, we cover: chronic hunger in the Middle East; the toll of war on Gazans; the one-year-long detention of an academic in Iran; Syrian health facilities under attack; Ebola casualties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo hitting the 1,000 mark; and a two-day remembrance effort for those who died during the Second World War.news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/05/1…

Syria Military Operation to Liberate Idlib Has Begun. Estimated 40,000 Terrorists in Idlib
Steven Sahiounie | globalresearch.ca | 2019-05-08
The zero-hour has arrived in Idlib, as the long awaited military operations to clear the last remaining terrorist-controlled area in Syria has begun. It is estimated that there are 40,000 terrorists, some with their families, and they comprise many …globalresearch.ca/military-operation-lib…

The Myth of a Disunited and Dysfunctional Palestine Is an Israeli Invention
Ramzy Baroud | mintpressnews.com | 2019-05-08
The myth of the disunited and dysfunctional Palestinian is very much an Israeli invention that precedes the inception of Hamas, and even Fatah. This Zionist notion, which has been embraced by the current Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, argues that 'Israel has no peace partner'.mintpressnews.com/the-myth-of-a-disunite…

Cecile Richards: Georgia's New "Fetal Heartbeat" Bill Criminalizes Women Who Seek Abortions
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2019-05-08
Georgia's Republican Governor Brian Kemp signed into law Tuesday a six-week abortion ban, or so-called "fetal heartbeat law" that bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected–something that typically happens just six weeks into a pregnancy and before many women realize they're pregnant. It is now one of the country's most restrictive abortion laws. "It doesn't just make abortion illegal," says | Cecile Richards, former head of Planned Parenthood. "It basically would allow women to be convicted and either sentenced to death or to life imprisonment in Georgia." She notes the real medical crisis for w…www.democracynow.org/2019/5/8/cecile_ric…

Florida Governor Signs Bill Allowing More Armed Teachers
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-05-08
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.–More Florida teachers will be eligible to carry guns in the classroom under a bill Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Wednesday that immediately implements recommendations from a commission formed after the Parkland high school mass shooting. | DeSantis signed the bill in private and didn't issue a statement afterward. But he made it clear he supports the changes made to the law enacted after a rifle-toting former student walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and killed 17 people in February 2018. | The bill was one of the most contentious of the legislative session that ended…truthdig.com/articles/florida-governor-s…

The DCCC's Plan to Punish Democrats for Backing Primary Challengers Is Sparking Major Backlash
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2019-05-08
The DCCC's Plan to Punish Democrats for Backing Primary Challengers Is Sparking Major Backlash…thenation.com/article/dccc-incumbents-pr…

DR Congo: Ebola claims over 1,000 lives, Guterres commits 'whole' UN system, to help 'end the outbreak'
United Nations | un.org | 2019-05-08
Now in its tenth month, the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has claimed more than a thousand lives, prompting Secretary-General António Guterres to throw the support of "the whole United Nations system" into stemming the spread of the deadly virus.news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/05/1…

Krugman v. Sanders on Medicare-for-All
Dean Baker | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-08
Last week Krugman devoted a column to dismissing the Democrats septuagenarians (Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders) as not being prepared to deal with the presidency in today's political environment. Part of his indictment of Sanders was an unwillingness to compromise, most notably on health care reform. As Krugman put it:…counterpunch.org/2019/05/08/krugman-v-sa…

Will A Green New Deal Save the Climate, or Save Capitalism?
Shamus Cooke | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-08
After decades of neoliberal torment it's easy to yearn for capitalism's tranquil past, a simpler time that delivered stability, fairness, and progress. This mythology around a golden age of U.S. capitalism is regularly conjured up by Bernie Sanders or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who reference the New Deal-era programs that delivered democratic reforms and a massive investment…counterpunch.org/2019/05/08/will-a-green…

Trump asserts executive privilege over Robert Mueller's report — DOJrt.com | 2019-05-08
US President Donald Trump has invoked executive privilege over the unredacted Mueller report and other materials subpoenaed by the House Democrats, the Justice Department has said. | …rt.com/usa/458734-trump-asserts-executiv…

Trump is Not a Tyrant, He Just Admires Them
Nick Licata | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-08
President Trump is not a tyrant, but he doesn't shy away from admiring them. And, that should give one pause in feeling secure that our nation's leader is committed to sustaining the world's longest running democratic republic. For those who don't see his lack of understanding how a democracy functions, they should consider his statements…counterpunch.org/2019/05/08/trump-is-not…

Trump Holds Grudge Against Puerto Rico: US Lawmakertelesurenglish.net | 2019-05-08
Democratic lawmakers from the United States claimed Wednesday that President Donald Trump holds a "personal vendetta against Puerto Rico" which has left disaster relief for the territory in limbo, as well as for that of Florida after being struck by Hurricane Michael last October. | RELATED | Puerto Rico Oversight Board Gets 60-day Court Extension | In a conference call, congressmen Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Darren Soto decried the devasting conditions continuing to affect northwes…telesurenglish.net/news/Trumps-Vendetta-…

Democratic-Aligned Think Tank Knocks Bernie Sanders for Vote Aimed at Avoiding War With Iran
Akela Lacy | theintercept.com | 2019-05-08
A mainstream, Democratic Party-aligned foreign policy think tank is knocking Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., for voting against new sanctions on Iran in 2017 — though the think tank itself and many members of its board oppose new Iran sanctions. | Sanders has been an outspoken supporter of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and said at the time that he voted against the measure in…theintercept.com/2019/05/08/bernie-sande…

The Democratic Counterrevolution Has a Self-Appointed Leader: Josh Gottheimer
Ryan Grim | theintercept.com | 2019-05-08
Not long after Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar were sworn into Congress, they began hearing from their new colleagues that one member of the House Democratic caucus, Josh Gottheimer, had particularly strong views about each of them. Gottheimer, a second-term representative from New Jersey, has deep ties to the lobbies for Saudi Arabia and Israel, while Tlaib and Omar are often critical of both Mideast governments. | So when Gottheimer reached out to meet with Tlaib, she was eager to take it, hoping that a personal connection would help bridge their differences. On the day of the meeting, February 6, Gottheimer arriv…theintercept.com/2019/05/08/josh-gotthei…

'Constitutional crisis' or political stunt? House Democrats hold AG Barr in contemptrt.com | 2019-05-08
House Judiciary Committee Democrats have voted to hold Attorney William Barr in contempt of Congress for defying their demands for the unredacted Mueller report and underlying evidence. | …rt.com/usa/458825-house-democrats-barr-c…